


night before christmas

by lumiere9699



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Childhood Friends, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, M/M, Will add more tags as the story goes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 20:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumiere9699/pseuds/lumiere9699
Summary: Daniel and Jihoon realize how important they are to each other the night before Christmas.





	night before christmas

**Author's Note:**

> wow this is too late but i made it... christmas was like a month and a half ago lmao i'm sorry everyone.. but still, please enjoy this, i guess? written for [@nwstarrynights](https://twitter.com/nwstarrynights)
> 
> this is unbeta-ed so it's really rough. i write in my free time (which is a time when i'm dead tired) so there might be tons of mistakes

_**「** **Before today ends**_

_**I will tell you I love you** **」**_

**—** [**품에** **by Norwegian Wood**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqtHtUDowgM) (please listen to this beautiful song~)

 

For a change, the normally chaotic atmosphere of Gangnam Police Station was quite peaceful and jolly. Mariah Carey’s classic song about wanting a special someone instead of getting presents from Santa during Christmas softly resonated in the silent morning air. However, no matter how cheerful the mood was, the police officers who were still on duty during the holidays felt stuffy. Everyone wanted to spend the holidays being together with their loved ones or enjoying a couple of well-deserved rest days, but of course it can't be helped. Crimes can happen anytime, it doesn't matter whether it's Christmas or whatever merry holiday it was. Criminals won't care about those things.

One of the said police officers was Kang Daniel. He wanted to be at home, sipping a hot cup of coffee, or maybe roll around in his bed – or maybe invite someone in his house to hang out and ease the loneliness. Of course, the thing he most wanted to do was to go back to his hometown, Busan, and spend Christmas with his family (cue the mouth watering feast his mother prepared every year for Christmas) but it wasn’t possible with the recent increase in the number of crimes reported in their area. So at the moment, he was sitting quietly on his desk, focusing on a bloody report regarding the last operation he did with his team. The other day, they had this operation to seize illegal imports coming in from other countries. In the report, he had to list down all of the illegal goods involved, which was why it was taking him a while. Almost done. He took a breath and glanced at the wall clock in front of him, checking how much time left there was before break. Surprisingly, a lot of time had passed as he worked. It was almost lunch time.

"Daniel."

He turned when he heard someone calling his name. He focused his gaze to his team leader, Kim Jonghyun, a man on his late twenties whom he respected very much because of his integrity and passion for his work.

"What is it, hyung?" Daniel blinked a few times and rubbed his slightly red eyes, which had focused at the monitor for a few hours straight.

"Are you working on the report?" Jonghyun brushed his hand through his dark hair in habit, and bowed his body a little as he squinted at the monitor.

"Yeah. I'm almost done, just need to get some documents for reference," Daniel replied and let out a soft yawn while he stretched his body to loosen the stiff muscles.

Jonghyun gently patted Daniel's wide shoulders, taking notice of the other man’s tired face. "Take it easy, okay? It’s the holiday season, it’s Christmas Eve, for crying out loud. And you don't need to rush this report anyway."

"Ah, but still..." Daniel scratched the back of his head.

"No buts. You can submit that later on. I don’t want you to push yourself too hard this time. And you know me damn well. If that report is urgent, you know that I’d bug you like crazy to send it to me ASAP, right?” Jonghyun chuckled, the corners of his eyes and lips lifting up as he looked at Daniel. “Relax, Danny,” he added, using the endearing nickname the team used to call Daniel at times.

Hearing the team leader’s words, Daniel’s body lost some of the tightness he felt. Although he still wanted to finish that report by today, so he wouldn’t have to worry about it later on.

Jonghyun’s gaze went to the clock. “Ah, it's almost lunch time. Let's go out and eat with everyone." He gently tugged Daniel's arm as if to say ‘Come along’, but Daniel stayed put on his seat and murmured, "But Jihoon isn’t here yet..."

Jonghyun scratched his chin, frowning a bit. "Oh, right. Shouldn’t he be back by now? Where’s that boy?”

"Hyung!"

As if on cue, a familiar, breathy voice called out. A handsome boy of medium sized built with a very remarkable pretty face came in running to the office.

"Jihoon-ah, you're here!" Jonghyun exclaimed as he looked at the boy who had just arrived at the station. "We were just talking about you."

Park Jihoon, the youngest police officer in the station, was panting, his whole face red because of the cold winter air outside. "Oh? What about me?"

“We were just starting to wonder where you were, and suddenly you’re here.” At that same moment, Jonghyun’s phone notified him of an incoming message. "Oh, Jisung said they're already at the restaurant. I'll go ahead then, you two follow alright?"

“Yes, hyung.” The two younger men didn’t forget to bow, as their leader waved at them and left the station.

"Ah, Daniel-hyung. Here are the documents you asked for.” Jihoon, whose breath was still a little uneven, pulled out a thick folder from his bag and handed it over to Daniel.

Daniel took the folder, put it down on his desk and stared at the boy. "Thanks Hoon-ah. Did you run going here?"

"...Well, uh, after parking the car, I rushed to go here. I didn't know it would take me a while to get to the documents and I just thought I had to get back quickly..." Jihoon bowed his head. "I'm sorry for taking so long."

"Hey, why are you saying sorry? There's nothing to be sorry about." He laughed softly as he stroked Jihoon's head, which made the younger boy gazed up at him, huge doe eyes blinking quickly, sparkling beautifully like festive Christmas lights. He tapped Jihoon's cute red nose once and put an arm over his shoulder. "Let's go have lunch."

"I can't today, hyung." Jihoon left Daniel's warmth, removed his long padding coat and thick gloves, and left them on his desk. "I'm the one assigned to watch over the station during lunch today..."

Daniel walked over to the huge bulletin board which contained various announcements, a monthly calendar, and a bunch of colorful post-it notes. Jihoon was indeed the officer of the day designated to sit on the information desk during lunch hour.

“Ah, too bad.” Daniel followed Jihoon, who was making his way to the said information desk situated directly in front of the station’s doors. “I wanted to have lunch with you.”

The younger officer snorted as he looked up at Daniel, who looked very much like a pitiful puppy kicked out by its master. “Hyung, we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner together almost every single day for years now. Aren’t you tired of me yet?”

“Hm? What? That question doesn’t make any sense to me..” Daniel scrunched his nose for a second and ruffled Jihoon’s soft locks. “I’ll never get tired of my Jihoon.”

“Ugh, ew, hyung what are you saying? I’m getting creeped out..” Daniel heard Jihoon say these words but he knew he was joking around when he saw Jihoon smile.

“Creeped out? Really? Then what is this smile I’m seeing? I guess you really liked what I said.” Daniel laughed and raised his hand to ruffle Jihoon’s hair again.

“You're so full of yourself, geez.” Jihoon laughed along, as Daniel continued to stroke his head. “Ah, please stop doing that. Reminder: I’m not one of your cats.” Jihoon moved his head out Daniel’s reach and pushed the older towards the front door. “Go and have lunch with the other hyungs, I’m sure they’re waiting for you.”

“Okay okay, I got it officer. I’ll just get my coat.”

Daniel returned to his desk and picked up his favorite coat that Jihoon gave him for Christmas two years ago. After giving a playful salute to Jihoon, he ran quickly to the small restaurant just beside the station.

“Yo, Daniel.”

“Danny!”

“What took you so long? And where’s Jihoon?”

As soon as he got there, he was bombarded with greetings and questions from his co-officers. He took a seat on the chair they saved for him, which was beside Hwang Minhyun, an officer from another team.

“Jihoon is the officer of the day.” When Daniel explained, everyone nodded their heads in understanding. “...so I’m sorry but I can’t eat with all of you today. I’ll get take out instead, so I can eat together with Jihoon..” he added with a smile.

Choi Minki, one of his teammates, reacted first. “Why? He’ll probably eat later, like he usually does when he’s in charge of the front. Besides, you eat together all the time anyway and you both hang out _too often_.”

The whole table hummed in agreement. Kim Sangbin, a scary-looking senior officer in their team, snorted loudly. “Yeah, give the boy some alone time, Danny.”

“You have all the time in the world after lunch time anyway.” Noh Taehyun from the other team joined in, not even bothering to lower the sound of his laughter.

“Ah, but…” Daniel felt his face flaring up, and he smiled shyly, scratching the back of his head. “It’s a holiday.. I figured that no one should eat alone on such a special day.” He laughed lamely.

Every officer sitting on that table smiled knowingly. Everyone knew that for Daniel, Gangnam Police station’s ‘maknae’, ‘resident cutie’ and ‘manly man’ Park Jihoon was a very special person.

“We get it Daniel. Only Jihoon is important to you.” The other team’s leader, Yoon Jisung, teased him.

“It's not like that! It's just that it's Christmas Eve, so…” Daniel protested, voice rising a little but then he realized he was probably being loud and mumbled the last part.

Jonghyun chuckled. “We know we know. We got it already.” He gestured for the waiter to come to their table and pointed to Daniel and Jihoon's food. “Can we have these two for take out? Sorry, turns out they can't eat it here.”

As they were regulars, this wasn't new to the waiter. He smiled at them and replied, “Of course. Please wait a bit,” and he disappeared into the kitchen with two plates in hand.

Daniel's face brightened again as the other officers stopped teasing him, the tails of his eyes rising up as usual.

“So, Daniel, what's your plan for tomorrow?” Minhyun asked after swallowing a spoonful of kimchi soup.

“Nothing?” Daniel's brows furrowed. “We have work tomorrow,” he let out a laugh.

“Shouldn't you confess to Jihoon already?” someone mumbled softly, earning a few snorts but Daniel didn't seem to hear it as he just mumbled, “Still working on a holiday..”

“I see,” Minhyun answered with his usual warm smile.

Then the waiter came back, holding a bag with their food. Daniel immediately took the bag, muttered a small ‘thanks’ to the waiter and a ‘see you later’ to the remaining officers.

  
  
  
  


“Hyung?” Jihoon’s eyes widened in surprise as he saw Daniel strolling back to the station only a few minutes after he had left for lunch. “Why are you here? How’d you eat that fast?”

Daniel lifted up the bag of food in reply as he laughed, removed his outerwear and went to sit on the chair beside Jihoon, pulling out the boxes which contained chicken, egg rolls, kimchi rice and sauteed vegetables and placed it on the table in front of them.

“You didn’t have to do this for me,” Jihoon said softly. “But thanks hyung.”

Daniel shifted his gaze from the food to Jihoon’s face and laid his eyes on his favorite smile, a soft look from Jihoon that made him feel so warm in the middle of a cold winter day.

“I told you, I really want to eat with you today, remember?” he reminded Jihoon. “No need to thank me, Jihoon-ah.”

A loud rumble from Daniel’s stomach and a laugh from Jihoon stopped their conversation from turning into a total mush fest. “Seems like our puppy is hungry.” Jihoon raised his hand and started to pet the older’s head and coo at him. Daniel simply melted in Jihoon’s touch.

“Let's eat!”

“Thank you for the food”

The two started eating, their hungry stomachs taking over. After only a short while, the take out boxes were emptied.

“I’m so full.” Jihoon patted his now slightly round belly. Daniel noticed that the younger had sauce on the side of his lips, and moved his hand to wipe it. “Ah, you have something on your lip..”

At that moment, the front doors opened, and the other policemen streamed in.

“Wow, what is this?!”

“Oh god, my eyes”

“Cute lovebirds”

“No dating in the workplace!”

Daniel quickly withdrew his hand, face burning up in embarrassment while Jihoon only shook his head at his hyungs. “Daniel-hyung was just wiping something from my lip,” he explained, smiling a little awkwardly.

“Uh-huh, sure he was”

“You expect us to believe that?”

“Ahhh too much flirting, I can’t take this anymore”

The other officers teased even more, and left no room to hear any explanations as they entered the office one by one.

“Sorry about that. I don’t know why they keep on teasing us. They know we’re just friends,” Daniel sighed. “I’ll tell them to stop later.”

But Jihoon just smiled, amusement obviously plastered across his face. “It’s fine hyung. You know, it’s actually cute to see you so flustered.” Then, he whispered, “But why are you so flustered anyway? I mean, we’re just friends right?”

Daniel flushed even more. “Yeah. We are. Friends. No–” He shook his head. “–scratch that. You’re my best friend, Jihoon-ah.”

Jihoon’s playful face crumbled for a split second but he managed to force a half-smile before Daniel noticed but the older man didn’t even get to see it because his eyes were currently aimed at his shoes.

“Yeah, I know, hyung.”

Suddenly, Daniel stood up and started to clear the table. “Break’s almost over,” he murmured.

Jihoon also stood up but slowly, and tried to help Daniel by offering to throw the trash but Daniel declined, saying he would do it instead. “See you later Hoon-ah.” Then without any other words, Daniel went back to his desk, feeling somewhat tired.

Little did he know that he would have a very long day ahead of him.

  
  
  
  


“I'm done with the report,” Daniel extended the file to Jonghyun and the latter took it and put it down on his desk.

It was already four in the afternoon. The day was still long, but Daniel decided to finish his tasks as early as possible. Seeing the younger’s eyes tinged pink, dark circles playing below his eyes, Jonghyun shook his head and ordered, “Danny, you go and take a nap okay?” he put up a hand to stop Daniel's protests. “This is an order. You look like hell, it won't do you or our team any good if you die on us because of poor health,” he chuckled.

Daniel didn't even have the energy to argue anymore. He felt strangely tired, unable to say what he wanted to say, that he wasn't tired, that he was fine, but his body betrayed him. The young policeman simply bowed to his superior and left his office, going to the small room with two beds which they used in case someone was sick or too tired to go home.

In the silence of the small room, he fell into a deep sleep, laced with faint thoughts of work – and entangled with much stronger, bittersweet thoughts of a boy who he considered his best friend.

  
  
  
  


 

The sky outside the window was already dark by the time he woke up. Despite the nap he had taken, he still felt the tiredness seeping into his long limbs, so like his lovely cats at home, he stretched his whole body and tried to chase the weary feeling away. He stood up and went to the window to check if it was snowing. It was, but it wasn't too heavy. Then using his phone, he confirmed the time and found that he still had a few hours before he could go home. One Christmas carol after another played as the man stared off at the night sky, noticing something strange in it, the stars twinkling too brightly for the Seoul skyline in the cold winter evening.

The holiday atmosphere was broken when he heard a loud crash from outside. It seemed like glass breaking, based on the sound that reached the small room. Male voices, one Daniel clearly recognized as Jihoon’s, echoed, followed by some obviously pissed off swearing. Daniel turned around to face the door and opened it a little cautiously just in case there was any danger behind it. That was a strict rule that everyone needed to follow. Always be cautious in dealing with these kinds of situations. It doesn't matter if you're brave or not, strong or not. The best police officers usually get killed because of overconfidence and being too careless. Opening an inch, he peeked at the crack and saw that there were two men who seemed to be fighting each other, teeth almost bared back. They struggled against the officers holding them back. The man held by Jihoon looked strangely familiar to him... But he wasn't sure of that so he just assessed the situation first, and decided to show up to help his teammates restrain the men. Going over to where Jihoon was, he softly asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, hyung. I'm fine," Jihoon replied, a bit of sweat starting to form on his forehead with the effort.

“No you're not,” Kim Donghan, an officer from the other team, interrupted, pointing at Jihoon’s arm that was currently decorated with a fresh wound. After throwing another worried look at Jihoon, he ran to the office, assumingly to get the first aid kit for emergency treatment.

Daniel’s face hardened, jaw clenched, annoyed that another person – let alone Kim Donghan – noticed something about Jihoon that he didn't. But that wasn't important at that moment so he let it go, his mind shifting into worry mode in a flurry, instantly grabbing the man Jihoon restrained so Jihoon could relieve the tension from his arm. “Jihoon. What happened?”

Jihoon smiled, despite the slight sting he felt. “Well, these two,” he pointed at the two men who looked like they were going to jump at each other’s throat. “Can’t get their hands off of each other. They kept on calling each other names and that one got so pissed off that he took out a knife and tried to kill the other one.” He gritted his teeth. “And all of this because of a fucking parking slot.”

Looking around, Daniel found broken ceramic mug pieces and a sharp pocket knife lying on the floor, the knife’s edge lined with red. Seeing the blood actually on the evidence made Daniel’s mind go wild and almost let go of the man he’s holding to get revenge on the other for what he did to his Jihoon, but he felt someone’s palms press against his arm (even without looking, he knew it was Jihoon’s) and something trickled within him, leading him to feel calm and be able to think rationally again.

The officer holding the other man (presumably the one who took out the knife as told by Jihoon), Kim Sangbin, chuckled, as the man still struggled in his grasp, breath coming up in puffs. “Hey man, you really want him that bad? I’ll get you two a room in the nearest motel I know. It’s on me.”

“Shut up,” the man who had held the knife hissed.

“Calm down you lil shit,” the familiar man laughed darkly, mysteriously. His eyes twinkled with mischief. “It’s just parking.”

“Yeah it’s just parking in the first place, I don’t know why y’all feel so triggered with each other,” Sangbin shrugged, his eyebrows knitting together.

“Boys,” Jonghyun appeared, holding some papers, “we need to take them in now. Separate cells. Sorry it took a bit long.”

“Yes sir.”

“Copy.”

Daniel and Sangbin proceeded to drag the two men to the holding area. The two were unusually quiet as they were being taken away. As they walked, Daniel couldn’t help but look at the face of the familiar man. Where had he seen this face? He couldn’t think of the answer but he also couldn’t get the tinkle of familiarity out of his mind.

They put the two into separate cells, of course the farthest from each other, and locked them up for questioning.

“Danny, Jonghyun said we need to see him after we put them in,” Sangbin said, thumb pointing at the direction of their leader’s office.

“Got it.” Daniel took one look back at the mysterious man and left the detaining area together with the senior officer.

  


“Sangbin, bring the one who had the knife for questioning.”

“Alright, sir.”

“Daniel.. you should check on Jihoon. You’re probably worried as heck right now.”

It was true. Ever since Daniel saw that stripe of red on Jihoon’s arm, he had been concerned about its state – and if Donghan already treated it or not. If Jihoon still needed him or not.

He scratched the back of his head. “Thanks hyung.”

“Go. Jihoon probably needs you right now.”

  
  
  
  


The station was animated again, the whole team worrying over Jihoon and his arm. The wounded boy was sitting down on a small bed, while the rest of the team surrounded him.

“I’m fine,” Jihoon whined, face scrunching up in embarrassment.

“We know, we just like to baby you,” Minki cooed.

“I don’t need any baby-ing at all! I’m a grown man for god’s sake..”

Seeing that Jihoon was fine, wound already treated and wrapped with a bandage, Daniel released a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Oh, Daniel you’re here,” Youngmin announced.

The team left the small room quietly, almost automatically, as no words were said prior to it.

“Are you okay, Hoon-ah?” Daniel started as he sat down on the space beside Jihoon.

“I’m fine. I’m not gonna die, hyung..” Jihoon snorted.

“I know, but I’m still worried.”

“There’s really nothing to worry about. Donghan already took care of my wounds.”

At the mention of the other officer’s name, Daniel’s face unconsciously stiffened. “I see.. Now that I see you’re fine, I gotta get going. Jonghyun-hyung said I should bring in the other man for questioning..” The last part was a lie. Daniel only needed an excuse to get away from that room. Or maybe to get away from his own uncontrollable, ugly emotions. He stood up to leave.

But Jihoon held his arm, gently, yet his whole world seemed to stop.

“Thanks hyung.”

“For what?”

“For worrying about me. For everything..”

“There’s nothing to be thankful about.. It’s what friends would do.”

“Ah.. Then be careful in dealing with those men. They’re crazy. I can sense something strange from one of them.”

“I will. You go and rest Hoon-ah.”

Daniel left the room, thinking if it was his imagination or Jihoon’s face slightly fell when he mentioned the word ‘friends’.

  
  
  
  


It was an excuse, but a strange force pulled Daniel to the holding area. The other cell was empty. The man was probably still in questioning. But the other man was sitting down on the floor of another cell, head bowed down, but when Daniel came in, his head shot up. A smile that crept up on his face gave the officer goosebumps. Jihoon was right, something was totally strange about this man.

“Hello there, officer.”

The man’s voice was also familiar. Something tickled Daniel’s mind.

“Excuse me, but… do I know you?” Daniel frowned and put his hand through his hair as he stared at the man’s mysterious eyes.

The man paused for a bit and chuckled. “You don’t know me. But it doesn’t matter. You can call me King. My real name is Kim Jaehwan but people call me King.”

“King… you seem really familiar to me…”

“I look familiar to everyone. It’s hard to explain but things just happen to work like that,” Jaehwan said as he stood up and went right in front of the steel bars.

“What are you talking about?” Daniel was extremely confused. Nothing made any sense.

“Anyway, just now, you were thinking that nothing makes any sense right?” Seeing Daniel’s surprised face, Jaehwan laughed, his full cheeks puffing up like two round dumplings. “And now you’re thinking if I can read minds. Well, honestly speaking, I can. It’s one of the perks of being King.”

He rubbed his temples because of a sudden ache that snaked inside his head and stared at this man called King, who could apparently read minds. Daniel thought that maybe this man got into an accident and acquired a loose screw in his brain. But as this thought brushed his mind, he couldn’t deny a slight tingle, a slight feeling that King was telling the truth.

“I am telling the truth Daniel. Wait, I’ll prove it to you. Think of something, anything, but don’t say it out loud.”

Unconsciously, Jihoon’s face flashed in an instant.

“Jesus, that’s boring. You think of that boy all the time. Can’t you think of anything else?” King snorted loudly.

Daniel’s face heated as he coughed and.. then realized. “Wait, who do you think I thought about? And how do you know I think of him all the time?”

“I told you, I’m King.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes as if that explained everything. “I know more than you think. That boy you thought of.. Park Jihoon, right? But anyway that’s not what I’m here for..”

How did this man know? ‘What I’m here for’? Daniel didn’t understand anything.

“Daniel. The reason why I came here is simple. I need to show you something very important.” The man’s face suddenly turned serious. Daniel felt the hairs on his whole body rise. Something very important…? What could this strange man possibly show him? Even though he thought that this man was defying all the laws of science and logic, he had to admit that he was curious of this ‘something’. The loud pounding of his heart seemed to tell him that it was something he needed to know.

“I know you have a lot of questions but before answering them, I need to take you the first destination.” Jaehwan extended his hand through the prison bars, towards Daniel. “Take my hand, and you will find out everything.”

A strange force seemed to bewitch Daniel into reaching out his hand.

As soon as their hands touched…

He was suddenly alone. Daniel looked around but he could only see white everywhere. King was gone. Is this heaven, he thought, as a soft pop sounded in his ears and his surroundings slowly became clearer.

Ah, this place…

A place where he spent a few years of his life.

It was his high school.

“Hyung!”

A familiar voice that he always heard, even in his dreams. A voice that he always loved hearing. Daniel turned around and faced sixteen-year-old Jihoon, once again.

**Author's Note:**

> this story was supposed to be doctors au but police au worked out better :) anyway this will be up in 2-3 parts.. and there will be more characters in the next parts. 
> 
> i know it's supposed to be up last dec-jan but wow work has been really killing me. i can't even open twt (i've deactivated for the meantime) let alone write.. my killer work schedule will end really soon though, so i'll open my twt again and write more. i hope you all understand!! - vivi


End file.
